NBA commissioner Adam Silver backed the league’s 65-game rule during the board of governors meeting on Wednesday. The 65-game rule was implemented in the 2023-24 season, which requires NBA players to play at least 65 games to be eligible for awards such as MVP, All-NBA and Defensive Player of the Year.
“I’m not ready to say it’s not working,” Silver said. “It is working. I’m not ready to say because there is a sense of unfairness for one player, that the rule doesn’t work.”
Silver’s response comes after the National Basketball Players Association’s statement about Cade Cunningham’s award eligibility status on Tuesday. The union’s full statement read:
“Cade Cunningham’s potential ineligibility for postseason awards after a career-defining season is a clear indictment of the 65-game rule and yet another example of why it must be abolished or reformed to create an exception for significant injuries. Since it’s implementation, far too many deserving players have been unfairly disqualified from end-of-season honors by this arbitrary and overly rigid quota.”
Cunningham played 61 games and was expected to be in contention for All-NBA and MVP before going down Thursday with a collapsed lung. He will be reevaluated in early April. Cunningham has to play 4 more of the Detroit Pistons remaining 11 games to be eligible for awards.
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